Coalition is letting rapists and wife-beaters get away with it, says Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper today accused the Government of letting criminals get away with domestic violence and rape.

The shadow home secretary said budget cuts left police unwilling to take offenders to court, leaving an annual 30,000 fewer crimes solved.

In her conference speech she also revealed plans to tackle illegal online images of children and identity fraud, while attacking what she called Tory “divide and rule” immigration policy.

Ms Cooper said there were 13 per cent fewer domestic violence cases and rape prosecution referrals were 33 per cent down since the Coalition took power. She added: “Those prosecutions and convictions increased for years as a result of our hard work.

“But since police cuts started and this government took charge, the clock has been turned back. More criminals and abusers are getting off. Fewer victims get protection.”

Ms Cooper said there were 15,000 fewer officers policing the streets since 2010, while official data showed that nearly 30,000 fewer crimes a year were being solved.

In particular she criticised a new focus on “community resolution”, where police take an offender to apologise to a victim, which she said was inappropriate for serious offences. Ms Cooper pledged Labour would stop police using community resolution for domestic and sexual violence. She also said official figures revealed 999 response times had risen, with officers taking 30 per cent longer to reach victims at night. She said: “That’s more criminals getting away with it in Tory Britain.”

Ms Cooper argued that the Government was also failing to tackle cyber-crime and online child abuse.

She said Labour would make it easier to prosecute identity theft and introduce a scheme to attract the best IT graduates into policing.

The party would make updated sex and relationship education compulsory in schools, she added.

She repeated a vow to maintain the Coalition’s immigration cap but highlighted problems that firms and students were having in getting visas.

Ms Cooper said Labour would stop employers undercutting the minimum wage and would require companies to take on apprentices in the UK if recruiting from abroad.